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Politics14 outlets ran this4 min read

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running mate

Hobbs, the most vulnerable Democratic governor, picks a former Republican mayor to bolster bipartisan appeal ahead of November 2026 election

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running mate

What this story says

  • Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selected John Giles, a former Republican mayor of Mesa, as her running mate on 11 August 2026.
  • Giles, who switched his party affiliation to independent in May 2026, has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump and endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024.
  • Hobbs is considered the most vulnerable Democratic governor in the U.S. and faces Republican Rep. Andy Biggs in the November 2026 election.
  • Arizona will elect its first lieutenant governor in January 2027, following a 2022 ballot measure to establish the position.

Who covered it

Left 57%(8)Centre 43%(6)Right 0%(0)

Percentages are shares of the 14 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

85/100

Craft

90/100

Hype

15/100

14 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

None of the 14 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, announced on 11 August 2026 that she had chosen John Giles, the former mayor of Mesa, as her running mate for the November 2026 election. Giles, who served as Mesa’s mayor from 2014 to 2025, was a registered Republican for decades before switching his party affiliation to independent on 17 May 2026. He voted in the Democratic primary in July 2026, according to county voting records.

Hobbs is running for re-election against Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who selected Sine Kerr, a former state lawmaker and farmer, as his running mate. Hobbs is widely regarded as the most vulnerable Democratic governor in the country, having won her 2022 race against Republican Kari Lake by a narrow margin. Republicans have since expanded their voter registration advantage over Democrats in Arizona.

Giles has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. He also supported Hobbs in her 2022 gubernatorial race and backed Arizona’s Democratic U.S. Senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. As mayor of Mesa, Giles signed a proclamation promoting equal treatment for LGBTQ+ residents in housing and accommodations, a move that drew controversy in the conservative city.

Arizona will elect a lieutenant governor for the first time in January 2027, following a 2022 ballot measure that established the position. The state was previously one of five without a lieutenant governor, with the secretary of state next in line for the governorship. Five of Arizona’s last 12 governors entered office through succession rather than election.

What the coverage left out

None of the 13 reports below, including the two full articles, mentioned the criminal investigation into Hobbs referenced in the abc15 Arizona digest. The investigation, which involves a rate hike for a state contractor that donated to Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party, was not covered by any left- or centre-rated outlet in the material provided. No right-rated outlet ran the story at all.

Tags:#ArizonaElection2026#KatieHobbs#JohnGiles#LieutenantGovernor#USPolitics#BipartisanTicket

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 11 Aug 2026, 14:45, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

8 rated outlets

  • The six left-rated digests led on Hobbs’s selection of Giles as a strategic move to appeal to Republicans and conservative independents. They noted Giles’s history as a Republican and his recent switch to independent status, as well as his criticism of Donald Trump and endorsement of Kamala Harris. The Associated Press’s full report, reprinted by several outlets, included Giles’s statement that he had tried to save the Republican Party but eventually gave up the effort.
  • The left-rated reports also highlighted Giles’s record as Mesa’s mayor, including his support for LGBTQ+ rights and his role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Associated Press quoted a statement from the Biggs campaign, which accused Giles of being aligned with Hobbs on policies that had "hurt Arizonans" and described him as an "aspiring Democrat" since voting for Joe Biden in 2020.

Centre

6 rated outlets

  • The seven centre-rated digests focused on the bipartisan nature of Hobbs’s ticket, framing Giles’s selection as an overture to conservative voters. They noted that Arizona’s Republican voter registration advantage had grown since Hobbs’s 2022 victory and that Giles’s background as a former Republican mayor of Mesa could help her appeal to that bloc. The Washington Top News full report described Giles as a conservative who still identifies as such but left the Republican Party after concluding it could not be saved.
  • The centre-rated digests also mentioned Giles’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a group that has traditionally voted Republican but has shown ambivalence toward Trump. The Washington Top News report quoted Hobbs’s statement that her selection of Giles should not surprise supporters, as she takes a "nonpartisan approach" to governance.

Right

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Read it at the source

14 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

8

Centre

6

Right

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running…?
Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 57% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 14 rated outlets on this story, 57% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 0% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running… biased?
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running mate is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running…?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs selects ex-Republican John Giles as running…?
14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why did Katie Hobbs choose John Giles as her running mate?
Katie Hobbs selected John Giles, a former Republican mayor of Mesa, to appeal to conservative voters in Arizona. Giles switched his party affiliation to independent in May 2026 and has criticised Donald Trump, making him a strategic choice for Hobbs’s re-election bid in a state where Republicans hold a voter registration advantage.
What is John Giles’s political background?
John Giles was a registered Republican for decades before switching to independent in May 2026. He served as mayor of Mesa, Arizona’s third-largest city, from 2014 to 2025. Giles has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump and endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
When will Arizona elect its first lieutenant governor?
Arizona will elect its first lieutenant governor in January 2027. The position was established by a 2022 ballot measure to clarify the line of succession for the governorship. Until then, the secretary of state remains next in line.
Which outlets did not cover the Hobbs-Giles story?
No right-rated outlet ran the story about Katie Hobbs selecting John Giles as her running mate. The 13 reports provided were all from left- and centre-rated outlets, with none from right-rated sources.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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